Living
by Draikinator
Summary: Death becomes the end. It's a halt, a stop, a finish to one's self. It's an end to the pain in life. For Naruto, when Death fails, he's forced to continue Living with that pain- but occasionally, Life gives one something good. .::SasuNaru::.


Living

_To whoever finds this._

_I guess… I should say I'm sorry. To Tsunade. To Hinata. To Shikamaru. To Gaara. To Neji. To Lee. To everyone who really did care. I'm so, so, so sorry. But… I can't take it anymore… It's tearing me apart from the inside out, and it just hurts so bad…_

_To anyone and everyone who ever wanted me dead, congratulations. You got your wish. Are you happy now? I sure hope so. I wouldn't want to disappoint. I killed the kyuubi for you. I know how much I wasn't wanted here. So I hope you feel proud of yourself. You killed the Kyuubi no Youko. You killed Naruto Uzamaki. _

_To Sasuke._

_I guess I'm a real coward for not saying this to your face, but… I love you. You probably hate me now… but what do I care? I'm dead. So go ahead and hate me all you want. I don't care anymore…_

_Naruto Uzamaki_

_AKA, the nine-tailed fox Demon_

Sasuke scrunched up the note in his hand, tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes. He had to cover his face, lest his feelings show through. But Naruto… how could he..? Had he really felt this way, the whole time? With no one knowing…? Naruto was the best actor Sasuke had ever seen. He'd never suspected a thing, and he hated himself for it. Never knowing his friend was in so much constant pain. Never knowing... Anything. Why would Naruto-?

"Excuse me?" The doctor asked hesitantly. Sasuke looked up, eyes lost and forlorn.

"What?"

"He's awake, if you want to see him. But he's still very unstable… don't bring the 'incident' up." Sasuke nodded, and stood up from the hospital waiting room.

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"Naruto…?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Naruto was silent, staring blankly at the ceiling. The monitor beside him beeped quietly.

"You okay?" He tried again.

No response.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, then, at a loss for words, closed it, and sat down in the chair beside Naruto's bed. The blond seemed either to not notice or not want to notice. He didn't react.

After several minutes of silence, Sasuke looked over. "Have you even blinked?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. If possible, it sank even deeper.

Naruto mumbled something incoherently.

"What?"

"Nfmlr celn…" Naruto mumbled, without breaking his gaze from whatever he was looking at.

"…What?"

"Unfamiliar Ceiling…" He said finally, eyes dim.

Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond.

A short time passed.

"How do you feel…?"

"I feel… I feel…" Naruto struggled for a word, "nothing…" He finished finally.

"Why'd you do it?" Sasuke asked, despite the doctor's warning.

Finally, Naruto looked over, as if suddenly realizing he was talking to someone other than himself.

"Because I thought I could."

Sasuke got mad.

"Dammit, Naruto! Do you have any idea what the hell you would've done to people if you'd off'd yourself?" He yelled, jumping up, "You moron, you've already got Hinata locked in her bathroom sobbing! We can't even _find_ Sakura, Shikamaru's been talking to his shogi board all day, and when we told Gaara, he freaking ditched his village and came down here! He's Kazekage, Naruto!" Naruto's expression didn't change. At this point, the two Anbu Black Ops that had been standing outside had come in to detain Sasuke. He got even angrier.

"You idiot! You're still just as irresponsible-" He struggled, "-and stupid, and near-sighted as always! You think killing yourself would help anyone? You think everyone wants you dead?? Huh? You really want to die so badly, go ahead and die! You're right! Maybe no one would care!" Sasuke didn't even notice he was contradicting himself as they pulled him out the door, "Not me, that's for sure! You ever try and kill yourself again, I won't cry for you, Naruto! You remember that, Naruto! I won't cry at your funeral, Naruto!" Sasuke screamed at the top of his voice, kicking madly.

"That's good… I wouldn't want to make you sad, Sasuke… I'm glad I won't make you sad ever again…" Naruto said quietly, lips curving slightly upward. Sasuke stopped struggling.

"What?"

The door closed.

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Naruto: The hell? Why am I always emo in your stories?

Draik: I like my Uke's angsty.

Naruto: I don't want to- wait, what?

Draik: *coughcough*

Sasuke: You didn't think _you_ were seme, did you?

Naruto: Of course I'm seme! I'm the demon,a ren't I? That's seme!  
Draik: You're not serious enough to be seme. *shakes head*

Sasuke: Nope, you gotta be just emo enough like me to be seme. You're too much of a dobe to be seme, Naru-kun.

Naruto: Wait, wait, wait. I'm emo in this fic, though! So that would make me seme here!

Draik: Nuh-uh. You're emo and _needy_ in this one! Thus very very uke.

Naruto: But… but… I don't wanna be uke!

Sasuke: But you are!

Naruto: …I'm not. *harrumph!*

Sasuke: FINE. I prove it to you.

Naruto: What? How are you- *tackle'd*

Draik: …*grabs camera*


End file.
